Sept. has to be THE month for my perennial border. The solidago, lespedeza, (wild) eupatorium, aster, and sedum are in bloom and the rudbeckia just keeps going. We've been lucky in NJ with lots of rain this summer. How are your gardens looking? Anyone want to share pictures?
heck i would say so...it is gorgeous
Lucky you!!!! There is a drought here. Everything is on its last leg ...... er ... stem!!!!
HopeinNJ, Just beautiful! I love September too but with our hot summers most of my perennials are almost done. Still have one or two dayliles that surprise me with a few late bloomers. I spent the entire day cleaning out beds and getting ready for the fall planting. My best friend lives in NJ so I usually get up there once or twice every other year. Two years ago we were in Rumson while they were having the Twin Rivers garden tour. I kept trying to get her to stop and let me look at a yard or two but she doesn't know a daylily from an onion. Needless to say we didn't stop but I still had fun trying to look at yards from a speeding car.
Happy gardening,
Arlene
Looks very lush Hope. I also think the stone edging and path really set your plants off. In my area of NJ the weather has been good, although there hasn't been quite enough rain lately. I have a good fall garden also this year. The asters and grasses have done well. I can also thank the Red Russian Kale for kindly seeding themselves as a edging plant right in the cracks of the driveway.
cattjovi,
Too bad you couldn't stop for the garden tour, Rumson is very pretty.
Sempervirens- really nice garden.
semp .....LOVELY:)
Same to you HopeinNJ.
Thank you sticks and plutodrive.
In this photo you can see the asters along the street with sedum Autumn Joy and switch grass. I love the asters in the fall not only for the splash of color but they are loaded with bees, butterflies and skippers. I found 4 skippers on one flower.
Sempervirens - Lovely garden. I'm sorry I didn't get to Rumson. Is the Russian Red Kale the plant in the front of your first picture? I bet it goes until a hard frost. I'll have to look into it. I'm not into perennials that have to be babied. I like ones that self seed, even if it means I'm weeding them regularly. I draw the line, though, at lemon balm; it's a menace.
Sempervirens, I love Rumson. The town reminds me alot of Savannah were I grew up and work. One year I hope to go just for the garden tour. Your yard is wonderful. Nice placement of plants and Rudbeckias are one of my favorites. Do you grow Maxima? I have seeds if you would like some to try. Hope to be back in Rumson next year. I'm addicted to the ice cream at Crazies.
Happy gardening,
Arlene
Hope, Sorry I took so long to answer. Yes, the clumps of blue leaves in the front of the 1st photo are the kale. It loves cool weather, in fact if you grow it to eat a good frost makes it taste sweeter. Mine are escapees from my tiny herb/vegetable garden. They seed nicely through the garden and are easy to remove or move. By the spring they look quite ratty but can be rejuvenated by cutting them all the way down along the thick stem to a few inches above ground level. Then, take a knife and cut an X on the flat top of the stem. In no time at all it regrows. It is very decorative in flower and seed also. I'll see if I can find spring photos of it in bloom. This photo is from last June, it's so heavy with seed it's leaning over.
As for lemon balm I still have volunteers I remove after planting it directly in the garden 15 years ago. At least it smells nice. The plant I regret planting is garlic chives, it is impossible to get those slippery stalks out of the lavender plants.
cattjovi,
Thank you for the compliment. I'd love to see Savannah. I looked up the Maxima and it is quite a spectacular plant. I'd love to try it. I'll D-mail you.
This is the photo I should have posted 1st, of the Kale in flower.
edited to say: You can already see seed pods forming.
This message was edited Sep 29, 2007 8:12 AM
semp are those kale ones you planted or perennials...or reseeds?
sticks,
All the kale in the garden are self seeds. I haven't actually planted kale for about 10 years now. They are not perennial for me but can last 2 years. I believe the second year it flowers and sets seed. I have also had quite small plants flower and seed in the1st season. They are in the cabbage family so the little cabbage white butterflies are attracted to them as are aphids and whitefly. If they become too bothered by the last two- and they seem to hold the aphids and whitefly so other plants aren't affected - I just thin out the planting and remove some plants.
WOW!!!!!! HopeinNJ and Sempervirens, What is THE secret to your success? Fertilizer, what? Soil prep, how? Bed location? Something else? A distant neighbor gets shreded wood from the local power company, and does she have a fantastic
full-sun garden!
I am moving my full-sun roadside garden to a new back bed, also full sun, where I can admire the plants now that I'm "retired." They used to be my last glimpse of Eden as I left for work, and my welcome home 11 hours later! Now I don't get out there much.
I am looking for plants that are not primadonas (hence ezgroonly); please suggest.
Hi ezgroonly,
Thank you for the compliment. I think you were very clever to put your garden along the roadside so you could see it going to and coming from work with those long 11 hr. days. I use a lot of white or light flowered plants in my back shade garden so I can see the garden at night to get the most out of it also.
I try to be an organic gardener so I use liquid or granular seaweed and fish emulsion as a fertilizer along with manure and compost. When I start a new bed I use a form of the lasagna gardening method. I outline the bed and cover the grass with 10 layers of newspaper and wet it well. For the street side garden I then just covered the newspaper with mulch and waited until spring. I removed the mulch, then lined the beds with rocks (for a slightly raised bed) and added: compost, topsoil, humus, and sharp sand on top.To plant just cut a hole into the remaining newspaper. I mulch the soil each year in spring with a layer of compost and shredded leaves. In the fall I mulch with straight shredded leaves (these break down somewhat by the spring). I usually rake out the beds in the spring before I add the new compost /mulch. In the winter I cover the garden after the ground is frozen in January with a layer of pine needles or boughs.
As for plants what do you have in the garden now that you plan to move? Before I suggest plants it will help to know what you like. In general I stay with natives when possible with a little splash of annuals for color so the lawn police get it that it's a well tended garden. I also have found small flowering shrubs or small trees (witch hazels, serviceberries, cletheras) add a lot to the garden and are very easy. Also groundcovers like Moss Phlox and some of the smaller herbs like the Thymes and Oreganos help keep out the weeds. You are a zone colder then me so some of your choices will be different. Post a photo of your garden if you can.
Hi all! I'm new to the site, and fairly new to gardening. I'm just now trying to get a new lawn and garden established in a new house......new, new, new. Very overwhelming but such fun. I have a specific question though. I'm in zone 6a or 6b, not sure which and wonder if it's too late to plant perennials that I'm seeing on sale.
hicotton,
I guess it depends on whether you can get your soil whipped into shape in time! AND are willing to take the risk of losing a few that don't get "settled in" in time for winter. I know you are impatient, but another option might be to concentrate on soil prep and do a little winter sowing to get your start for next spring. If you KNOW what you want to do in certain areas, and your plants include a tree, putting the tree in now could be a good idea. We all want to see pictures as you go along!! Nothing more exciting that seeing a new garden take shape. Congrats on your new home!!
Pat
Thanks for the ideas and encouragement. I was able to start a good number of things since I moved in in the spring (sorry for not mentioning that) and have watered and watered due to our drought. Most things have done well and I've really enjoyed it. I was able to get some of the soil prepared, some better than others though. You are probably right that I should concentrate on continuing to work with the soil and deal with shrubs, trees. I tend to get ahead of myself and buy more than I should. I've got some shrubs I need to get in the ground now too before I get off on another project. I'm just soooo tempted by the bargains!
Ohhhhhhhhh don't I understand the siren call of the bargain! Unfortunately I have 3 shriveled up miniture roses that I bought clearanced for a dollar each. They looked great when I bought them... :-( ... not so nice now. I'm going to drop them in the prepared ground and see if any of them are forgiving enough to live for me despite the early neglect.
After reading many posts I realize that I am NOT the only gardener that sometimes fails to get everything in the ground in a timely manner. I kick myself when I fail to give a plant the proper start. Hey, I bought it, I OUGHT to respect it enough to plant it properly!
I just read back through the thread and looked again at all the pictures.....Hope and Sempervirens----how beautiful! I'm envious of the lush look of your gardens. I can't wait till my attempts look established like that. Sempervirens, I appreciate your description of what you do with your beds. I have been wondering what I needed to do with mine now that fall is trying to get here (in spite of mid 80's temp). I'd appreciate any and all suggestions. I have mulch down but that's about it.
Elizabeth
hicottonpbgv,
It took me a little time to get back to this thread but I do want to respond and say thanks for the compliment . I'm glad the soil preparation was helpful. Fall is a good time to plant shrubs.
Yes, fun to cruise the perennial forum and find some pretty pictures of your autumn garden! And I bet you get some great butterflies with that mix of nectar flowers!
Interesting about the Kale self-seeding, too. Didn't realize it could do that...
After a really drought-y summer here, our garden seems to have revived itself into one of the best autumn gardens I can remember... I even had a beautiful white iris reblooming which was unusual for us. It bloomed among the new england asters that I purchased for a $1 on close out last year and never thought they would come back.
Before DG I had no idea one of the best gardening seasons (around here, at least) was September and October! Always some surprises in the garden patch!
Let's see more pics!??
